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tv   First Business  KICU  January 15, 2013 4:00am-4:30am PST

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glad you could make it, right this way... it's a fat tuesday for tech. facebook has a major announcement while rumors swirl about dell going private. in today's cover story - can't we all just get along? how partisian politics are affecting legislation on capitol hill. the economy according to ben bernanke - what the fed chair has to say about the state of the country's finances. and, how automakers are setting a new pace for competition. plus, traders who are sweet and sour on apple. first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas.
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good morning. i'm angela miles. it's tuesday, january 15th. in today's first look: as facebook makes its big reveal on its new product today, shares briefly climbed above $32 yesterday. bloomberg news reports dell is in talks to end its trading days and go private. federal regulators order jp morgan chase to improve its risk management after losing billions in trading last year. and american airlines bond holders meet today to weigh in on whether the airline should merge with u.s. airways. ira epstein of the linn group joins us now. always a pleasure to have you on the show. what is going on with the market? it is so resilient. where is all this money coming from ira? > > think about it: 2012, the end of the year, we didn't know where we were in taxes, people selling off lots of things, not knowing where capital gains were going to go. now that money is hot. it needs a place to go. people are not thinking interest rates are the place. they are thinking the stock market. they're looking for
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dividend returns and appreciation. and so far, that is what they are getting. so even on the brakes in the stock market, we are seeing new money flows - big new money flows - coming into the market now. and that will probably continue another week or two. then we'll get back to what i call more normal trading. > commodities traders are on their toes these days, especially with the crop news that has been coming in - we have drought issues, cold issues, and frost issues over in california. what is happening? > > one of the amazing things is, normally when you get a report - we did on friday on final acreage so you can figure out your supplies to a large degree, you often get a limit move one way or the other. they did this report at 11:00 in the session. brand new time. the market did go limit. but i was amazed today, if you add the two days up, it is about a limit move from friday's gain and today, so what the market is really saying is, supplies are too low and prices that they fell to at the end of 2012 - some of that selling was
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taking money off the table just because of tax reasons - that money is chasing itself back into the market. but, at this time of the year, it is too darn difficult to know how the crops in south america are going to go. you don't chase the money. let the market pull back and then take another look at it. > sage advice from ira epstein. thanks ira. > > thank you. today, members of the house are expected to debate two bills that would provide more than $50 billion in emergency aid to those affected by superstorm sandy. but in our cover story, there are headwinds, and its leading some to say partisanship in the beltway has gone too far for too long. more than 2.5 months after superstorm sandy blasted the northeast, congress will debate whether to approve $50-billion in federal aid to victims - a vote delayed during the fiscal cliff negotiations - that some say reflects the worst of partisan politics. "346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. seven million people and a thousand schools were without power." congress did approve a little less than $10 billion for
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insurance payments, but the original senate bill had money for sandy and a host of projects unrelated to the storm. monday, the conservative "club for growth" urged members of congress to vote "no" on sandy relief, saying: "congress shouldn't keep passing massive emergency relief bills that aren't paid for, have little oversight and are stuffed with pork." freshman senator angus king says hyper-partisanship has got to change. "you can get in trouble just by talking with the other side. i'm not going to blame anyone. i just think we should quit it and start talking to one another." the group "no labels" wants leaders to be problem solvers who agree on one set of fiscal facts. the group is pushing for congress to work in washington five days a week, witholding congressional pay if no budget is passed and reform filibuster rules in the senate to end stalling by the party in the minority. its supporters include ceos such as ron shaich of panera bread. "the only special interest is
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the common interest. we want them to work together on core concerns: debt, energy and immigration." organizers of "no labels" hope to attract about 70 members of congress from across the political spectrum to agree to meet regularly. the group is headed by democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia and former republican governor of utah jon huntsman. in the final news conference of his first term, president obama told reporters the u.s. can't afford a drawn-out debate over raising the debt ceiling, which could reach its lmit in mid february. "raising the debt ceiling does not authorize more spending. it simply allows the country to pay for spending that congress has already committed to. these are bills that have already been racked up, and we need to pay them." president obama warns that if the debt limit is not raised or
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used as leverage by republicans, markets would go haywire, interest rates would rise, and checks to military veterans and people on social security would end. gop senate minority leader mitch mconnel reponded by saying, "the president and his allies need to get serious about spending, and the debt-limit debate is the perfect time for it." traders will get their first opportunity to react to comments at the market close yesterday by federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. among the highlights, the fed chair says, the federal government is not out of ammunition, the fed's bond-buying program is not likely to lead to higher inflation, and the fed sees positive signs in the economy. bernanke made the comments during an appearance at the university of michigan. nike is making a gear shift. just ahead of oprah's much- anticipated interview with cyclist lance armstong, the athletic company is signing rory mciiroy, the number one golfer in the world, to a multi- year nike sponsorship. reports
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say the agreement with the golf star from northern ireland is worth up to $250 million over the 10 years. nike dropped armstrong last year on revelations of an alleged doping scandal. pharmaceutical giant glaxo smith kline announces it has made a regulatory submission to the food and drug administration for a new drug. called albiglutide, it is a possible once-weekly treatment for adult patients with type-two diabetes. the new drug is an injectable and not yet approved as a treatment for the disease. settlements are soaring at the sec. u.s. securities regulators reached 714 settlements in 2012, up 6.6% for the year and the highest number since 2007. much of that has to do with the sec cracking down on insider- trading cases. the agency settled 118 insider trading case in the last year, including the most high-profile of them all, the $92-million civil penalty against galleon hedge fund manager raj rajaratnam. business travel is expected to see an uptick this year. (fs over broll) spending on business travel is
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projected to jump 4.6% to 266 billion dollars. last year -- travel spending grew just 1.6%. companies spent more than in 20--11, however, superstorm sandy and fiscal cliff uncertainty disrupted end of the year travel expenditures. wall street is proving you can't always bank on your bonus. several big banks will trim bonuses for 2012. barclays and deutsche bank are cutting extra cash for employees by between 10 and 20 percent. the financial times says goldman sachs is looking to delay a round of bonuses. the wall street journal reports a board is considering cutting jamie dimon's bonus due to last year's trading debacle, which cost jp morgan chase billions. the department of homeland security is still not satisfied that oracle has fixed flaws in java software - flaws that leave users vulnerable to hacking. the issue is with the jdk7 version of the java web
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surfing software. late last week, users were advised to disable the software. oracle provided a fix over the weekend. but monday, the department of homeland security's computer emergency readiness team said the software bugs remain and the software should continue to be disabled. oracle has not yet responded to this latest development. united parcel service is giving up its $7 billion bid to acquire dutch delivery company tnt express. ups abandoned the plan after encountering strong opposition to the deal from the european commission. the commission was expected to announce its decision february 5th. ups will pay $267 million to terminate the deal. swatch, famous for affordable watches, is polishing its brand by acquiring harry winston jewelers, famous for its diamonds. the switzerland-based swatch group is paying $750 million for the luxury jeweler and will assume the company's $250 million in debt. the acquisition strengthens swatch's reach into the prestige segment of the jewelry business,
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a stated goal of the company. starz on the rise. in its first trading day as a public company, shares of starz shot up more than 10%. the stock opened at $14.20 and closed at $15.59 monday. the company is a spin- off of liberty media corp. starz is in competition with hbo and showtime. analysts view starz as a takeover target. taco bell is going head-to-head with mcdonald's as it introduces a new value menu. calling it the "$1 cravings" menu, the concept is a direct challenge to mcdonald's dollar menu. the mexican fast food chain will test 9 different items, and if successful, "$1 cravings" will roll out nationwide and replace its current value menu. still to come, why the iphone 5 could be causing a disconnect with investors. two traders weigh in later. but first - buckle up. what's rolling out of the detroit auto
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show, plus volkswagen's great expectations. that's after the break. we are peeking under the hood of this year's auto show in
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detroit. general motors debuted its new 2014 corvette stingray, its newest model of the corvette since 2005. gm kicked off the show with an optimistic outlook for the coming year.
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the automaker said sales are projected to grow in the u.s. and asia. meanwhile, cadillac received praise when its "ats" sedan was named car of the year. expect more releases this week from toyota and lexus. volkswagon is attempting to stay on track with its aggressive plan to dominate the auto industry in a few years. but recently, it hit some speedbumps in europe. jonathan browning, ceo of volkswagen of america, joins us this morning from the detroit auto show. good morning. last year was a great year for sales, but sales were stronger in china than in europe, your own backyard. is that a part of the strategy to become the number one automaker? > > it is a great place to start the year here. really a lot of energy in detroit, and a great place to do two things: one, celebrate the continued momentum of the volkswagen brand here in the u.s., but also to look forward to the things that will continue to drive that growth in the future, both here in the u.s. in terms of our expanded product portfolio, but
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also our commitment to growing across the world, including in markets like china. > what are your goals at this year's auto show? > > i think what we see is a continued recovery here in the u.s. marketplace. not a spectacular recovery, but a steady recovery. we think the industry will exceed 15 million units here in the u.s. this year. we plan, with the volkswagen brand, with the momentum that we have, to grow faster than the industry. but it is still an industry that is in a recovery mode. > toyota is coming on strong. is toyota beatable? > > we are very much focused on executing the plan that we have for the u.s. marketplace. back in 2008, we invested in our u.s. growth strategy: we put $4 billion into the u.s. in terms of manufacturing, in terms of product, and other infrastructure. and this is about long-term growth. so we are putting layer after layer of factors in place that will drive our growth. so, we are very much focused on executing our plan, responding to customer needs; and we have seen this growth now drive very strongly
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over the last three years, culminating in more than doubling our sales since 2009. > does vw plan to make more cars in the u.s.? > > what we have seen is a tremendous start-up - great success in tennessee - and we're really pleased to see how the passat has succeeded in the u.s. marketplace. we went from selling just 10,000 vehicles in a calendar year previously to over 10,000 a month of the new passat. so, we are still in that process of ramping up our presence with passat out of tennessee, and that is really our focus at the moment. > thank you for your time. that is jonathan browning of volkswagen. > > thanks angela. great to talk to you. enjoying the title "world's largest automaker" was short- lived for general motors. toyota is back on top after selling 9.7 million cars and trucks in 2012 compated to gm's sales of 9.29 million. both companies enjoyed higher sales this past year, but toyota edged out gm as it rolled out updated models of popular vehicles such as the camry. toyota is expected to continue its lead in 2013 due
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in part to a roll-out of a new corolla. thank you chuck. still ahead, we'll get a bullish and bearish take on where apple is headed. that's next.
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apple shares are bruised. the stock fell below $500 yesterday on word the company is cutting orders for parts for the iphone 5 because of weaker-than- expected demand. alan knuckman of option shop and scott bauer of trading advantage have some thoughts on that today. and alan, is apple losing its grip on the smartphone market? > > i don't think so much. i think people over-analyze the situation. i like to look at apple in a non-emotional way. treat it as a $50 stock instead of a $500 stock. just lop a zero off, and that way you can make better decisions. yes, we were up at the highs at $70, which translates into $700. we're at a sharp discount from that. but we're holding this base, and i'm going to look to see how $500 holds on a weekly basis, especially with great data coming out next week with iphone sales at potentially 50 million units. > scott, do you think $500 will hold?
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> > no. the pattern here is obviously very bearish. the momentum is bearish. there is nothing in the marketplace to suggest that we are rallying back to $600. now, in the long run, i think apple is a great buy. but i truly believe that in the coming months, we are going to see that flush-out that everybody has been waiting for, where all the longs that have been holding on just can't hold on any longer. and if this thing gets down into the $450 or $440 range, you are going to see every institution out there buying it, anyone that can get their hands on it. that is the place that this thing is going to start popping back. > what is your advice to investors right now? alan, what would you do? what are you telling people to do? > > $450 is an important level to lean on. i am a buyer here at these levels and leaning on that $450 level in the bigger picture. you have to remember, this stock went from $300 and doubled itself from mid-2010 to- it was only four months ago that we were at $700. so, the market gets overdone on the upside, and we have already seen a big, big flush-out, and i think the negative of pessimism here, as your guest really illustrates, i am a buyer here
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at these levels and leaning on $450. that is kind of that halfway target that i am looking to see the support hold. > scott, what do you tell investors, quickly before we take off? > > i think you have to be very cautious with all the volatility in the marketplace. again, i think apple, for the long run, is a great stock. but anyone that is still long the stock, i would probably have them selling upside calls, because premiums are so expensive right now. keep selling upside calls, and then roll them up, roll them up. > alan knuckman and scott bauer, good to have you on the show. and in case you're wondering, it is not st. patrick's day, we just color coordinated. thanks guys. > > thanks angie. don't go anywhere. rumor has it dell is in talks to go private. what that could mean for the stock is right after the break.
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matt shapiro, president of mws capital, joins us, and as you know, the market went wild over this report that dell may be considering going private. what do you think about this? > > it's big news, and it tells
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you a lot about the state of the pc and semiconductor market, which is that it is tough to unlock that value. the fact that a company like dell would go private shows you that it is tough to make money, so it is something you need to consider when taking a look, for instance, at intel, or even more advanced micro devices. > reports say this is the second time dell has considered going private. what do you anticipate is likely to happen with the stock? we have already seen a big move that happened yesterday. > > i think it has potential to get to about $15. it's a sign of health in the market in a lot of ways that private equity can come in and do an acquisition like this. but realize, what they're going to do is load the company up with debt, take the money out, and then sort of set it on its own. so i don't really think it's necessarily a turnaround. it is kind of a way to extract value from businesses that really aren't firing on all cylinders. so, be realistic about it. for instance, take a look at intel.
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the fact that dell is going private shows you the prospects for the broad range of these companies in a maturing market is not necessarily so good. > yes or no, would you buy the stock here? > > if you want a 10% pop, sure. long-term though, i am in avoiding this entire sector. > matt shapiro, president of mws capital. thanks matt. > > you got it. that wraps up our busy morning. coming up tomorrow, reaction to facebook's new mystery product and thoughts on stock. from all of us at first business, have an enjoyable day!

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